American Beauty Scene 9 Summary

  • Now we're seeing the Burnham family dinner—after such a tense day, what could go wrong?
  • Jane says she hates the music they listen to at dinner. Carolyn basically tells her to live with it.
  • Lester asks Jane about school in a saccharine, fakey voice. Jane says it was spectacular… in a voice that lets you know she's being fake as well.
  • Lester then describes his day and dealing with the efficiency expert (Brad)—before realizing that Jane couldn't care less.
  • Jane pushes back, saying he can't expect her to be all chatty after months of not talking to each other just because he had a bad day. She leaves the table.
  • Carolyn gives him a smug look, but he isn't having it, asking her if she thinks she's mother of the year. Then, under his breath, he says that she treats Jane like an employee. She gets mad and asks him to repeat what he was muttering, but he won't.